Shall Be Cleansed

Burn wrote one of the best hardcore 7"s of all time. I guess that's a pretty well established fact. That's why I always thought it a little bit surprising that there was only little talk, if at all, about their other releases, especially about the 12" EP Cleanse, which came out in 2001. After listening to it a couple of times I think I know why that is… The record is not that good to be perfectly honest. Maybe the bar has been set too high by the first 7", but the six songs on this EP don't even come close to the songs on Shall Be Judged. To me it sounds like Burn tried to sound like someone else (Rage Against The Machine?), which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't work too well in my opinion. The songs also lack the power and urgency that made the original 7" so great. I've listened to the EP a few times so far and after the original shock the songs sort of grew on me a little bit, but it won't become a favourite of mine.